Car-door opening and closing mechanism



April 12, 1927'.-

i c. scHUssLER CAR DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING MECHANISM 2 ShaetsQSheot 1 Filed Oct. 4,/ 1926 1624 68o April 1927' c. scHUssLER A I CAR DOQR' OPENING AND CLOSING MECHANvI-SM Filed oct. 4, 192e 2 Sheets-SheetI 2 l//l/ "Il A Patented Apr. 12, 1927.l

U'H'fee ySrArt-s OAR-been @mme Atmenorieitecfrmrsm-f'1 if i Thisl invent-ionrelateS 4tovff'ip'e'nil'ig `'and closing mecha-miem for, sliding doors and more `particularly 'tor rfai'livayeair 5dofc'ir's. f

' One'object of my invention 'is to provide a4 mechanism Wvliich may -be readily and ea's` ily applied to 'each door of a car andvthus 'have the Cai' 'carry A'as-fa 'part ot its reg'ula'r equipment anopening and vclosing me'clia'- nisiriV for each of i'tS doors so that the latter may be readily and easily opened or closed Without the nee of crowbars orotherpryfing devices 'to d'o damage or injry to either ,thek

door, or the car' Wall as heretofore.v y

Anotlierobjeet of my invention is to pro-` vide the mechanism With tivoSetlS of vteeth and an actuating means therefor mounted on the door and the associated car Wall respeev tively -vithfthe actuating means engage'able with either set of teeth forrespectivelyopening and closing the doorjthrough the medium further object offmy, Vinvention is to arrange the lteeth m rows extending cross-Wise ofthe door land have' the actuating means m the form of an endivi'se movable 'member `r bar with a shoe having an intermittent -pu'slfi-v ing action on the teetliol: oneet' to Closethe door and an intermittent lpulling" .action on lthe teeth' of` the other Set to yopen the door in the respective backward Land forward 'movements of the bar. l f y f A Still nrtli'er object ofmyinven'ti'on is 'to provide means for locking the'sho'e en# gagen'i'entivifth lthe teeth ot the et'employed' to close'th'e door Awhen ,the vlatter is jeloscd andthue provide a rigid and seenre lo'ck accidently open, tl'iereby'maling it lin'neces 'forensed I A furtherV object of provide amechani'sm'which is siir'ipleinjcon-v struction and operation and which may be with the easilyl breakable lools "as heretobereadily vreached for'repaii b'rL'SUCli'tller at-fA tentio'n aie it may require Without .taking sary to s-.pike the door t'o keep iltjclosfed 'as my inve'nt-io'nfis toA igs. a, 3 am 4 are enlarged vertifeal, see..

4j-fl respectively; of Fig. il, to Show varios details oeonstruction; and y.

` F-ifg. 5 is/ an enlarged slde elevational View l Iii-the drawings, Jl'indicates one otthefside Walls 'of a 'freight Ifcar, 2 the-door -openin'gr tliiere'infand "3 the sliding door for 'said open`r ing;y `The hangers 4,24 at the ripper-edge of the door carry rollers (not-shown) which rimfon "a suitable rail 'or track 5 secured to the oarvvvall along the'upper edgexof 'the doorso that ythe latter may be `slid open and closed "afs in structures of thiS kind. .o Y

of my .v invention. is" constructed as follows. A pairfofmeal racks '6, 7 are secured on the' racks extendcrosSwviSeof the door below the middle vthereof and: are vertically s'pac-ed` apartwith'their teeth 49, Y9"'opposed;` f The racks '6, 7' extend outwardfrom the door 9 substantially the saine 'diel'ance'an'd lravethe The door 'opening andclosin'g mechanism s'p'afce 'between them closed alongfthe length l ceredagai-nst the Ioutside of the racksloy the l samebolts '8 used to Securefth'e racks tothe door, assh'own in Fig-.12. j j l y in the form? oit-"a {An -f-afetuatin'g member bar 11 "extends intovthe Space between nthe ae Shown in Fig.' l. The Abar 1l 4carries shoe 12 Iat-its' front end. fiiaidfshoe'isy vertically 'racks 6, Tfrom the rear 'edge of-the" door?. A

dispoeld so aeto'extendabove 'and beloivjtlie ,b'arxand k'ei'igageeitlrer set ofvtee'th 9 fory re# epectivelly openingvand closinghedoor;y

' Tliebai" 11 extends rearward-from 'door along the outside of the car-Wall l inf alignment vvithi-'the Space between the racks;y 6, 7 'a'sgslrovvn in 1l. At 'the rearward 'end vofthe bar there ishand operating lever 13 pivoted vnear itsnpper end to' thefcar Wallfl .by |`alcol-t 14 "as Shownin Fig. 4. The upper .1'00'* v 'end of' the `lever 13 is pivoted tothe bar-ll ntearlits rearend by a'b'olt lfand alepacer '1'6 is on tlfie `lo'olt l between' thel'everfaiid l the ear `ivall LIto -lr'old 'the bar and lever 1.11 and la, reepeeti'vely, out of Contact with the v ffrhe greater length of the beiii tea-1g' in y the -br-neenily herds the-Shoe against the teeth iff the; tower rack 7, as sh'wn-in Figs.A rand: 5; It is to ber notd-frfomlthese f posed with their vertical faces a facing in 'opposite directions,'those of the upper set facing the front edge of the door 3 while those of the lower set face the Vrear edge of the door with the inclined faces betweeny them and facing downward and upward respectively. l

rlhe upper and lewe-rends of the shoe 12 vare made complementary to the teeth of the racks and thus have vertical and inclined facesc, d, respectively. The vertical faces c of the shoe are on the front and rear sides, respectively, of the shoe so as to engage the vertical faces c of the teeth 9 of the respective racks for openingand closing the door, while the. inclined faces cl of the shoe permit the same to ratchet over the inclined faces ofthe teeth 9 when sliding the shoe over the same.

In operation, the operator grasps the lever 13 and swings the same laterally back and forth on its fulcrum 14, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, thereby causing the bar 11 to be moved en'dwise back and forth with respect to the car wall 1. Then closing l Figs. 1- and 5.

the door, as in Fig. 1, the shoe 12 is allowed to rest on the lower rack 7. On each forward movement of the bar 11, the vertical face c at the lower front end of the shoe engages in front fof one of the teeth 9 and pushes the door .toward its closed position. On-each rear stroke of the bar, the shoe 11 rides or ratchets back over a. few teeth and engages behind another one for another forward push. v These operations are repeated until the door has'been move-d by the bar into fully closed position, each movement of the door being a few teeth at a time.

lTo open the door, the operator in addition to moving the lever 13 as before presses down onthe'rear end of bar 11 or lifts up on thefbar in front of the lever 13 to raisev the shoe 12, rinto engagement with the teeth 9 vof the upper rack e', the shoe at lthis time being' free of the teeth of the lower rack, as shownin dotted lines in Fig. 5. On each forward stroke of bar 11, the shoe 12 ratchets forward over the inclined faces of the teeth of the upper rack while on each rearward stroke the vertical face cA at the upper side of the shoe hooks behind a tooth and serves to pull the door `towards its open position. These operations are repeated until the door is fully open, the shoe intermittently engaging the rack as before and moving the door a few teeth at a`time on each rearwart stroke of the bar 11. I

To lock the door 3 closed, I provide a locking member 17 pivoted at one end by a bolt 18 to the rear side of an arm 19 at the rear end of the upper rack 6, as shown in The arm k19 extends beyond the rearend of the lower rack so that the insane@ locking` member may engage the bar 11 eX terior of the racks. As shownin Fig. 3,. the member 17 is so shaped that when in locking position its free end e extends downward across the bar 11 in front of the same to prevent the shoe 12 from being moved outward from theteeth of the lower rack 7 should the plate 10 be removed. The mid-portion ,f of the member 17 extends across the top of the bar 11 to prevent the latter' from beingJ lifted to free the shoe 12 from the teeth of the lower rack. To secure the bar 11and member 17 in these positions.

'I pass a wire or band 2O of a car seal 21 holes in the parts and secure the two ends of the wire in the seal 21 as shown in Fig. 3. To unlock the door 3 so that it may be opened, the seal wire is cut and withdrawn from the holes in the bar 11 and memberl? whereupon the latter may be swung up on top of the upper rack 6 to be out of the way as shown in Fig. 1.

The shoe 12 is preferably made separate from the bar 11 and afterwards secured thereto by bolts or screws 22, 22 as shown in Fig. 5. For this purpose the shoe has a shank23 which fits against the bar 11, the'latter being preferably made channel shaped as shown in Fig. 2. By providing the shank 23 and bar 11, where they engage. with a plurality of bolt holes, the shoe may be adjusted lengthwise of the bar 11 to position the shoe for the teeth .ofthe racks. Moreover, by this construction the shoe may be removed from the bar 11 when'worn and be replaced by a new one.

`With my improved mechanism, the door may be readily and easily slid back and forth by merely moving the hand lever 13 and seeing that the shoe 12 engages the proper set of teeth. Vith the actuating means having,- an intermittent grip and ref lease action on the door inopening and closing, it, a series of relatively shortpower strokes may be employed at the expenditure of far less power than heretofore required, therebyv allowing the door to be opened or closed without undue effort. The cover plate 1() not only serves to prevent the shoe 12 from leaving the space between the racks but also protects the same from the weather as well as dust `and dirt.` The hand lever 13 will be spaced far enough from the door to allow the door to be moved toward the same to fully open position without interference bythe han-dl lever. Moreover, the bar 11 will be long enough to have its shoe 12 remain engaged with the teeth of the respective racks whether the door is fully open or fully closed, thus enabling the-shoe to act on the door in any position thereof. l

The details of structure shown anddef through registeringl scribed may be variously changed and modi- I claim as my invention.

l. TheA combination with a car wall having an opening and a Sliding door therefor, of an opening and closing mechanism for said door, consisting of a'pair of upper and lower racks extending crosswise of the door and secured thereto with their teeth opposed, a hand lever pivoted to the car wall at'one Side of the door, and an endwise movable actuating member pivoted to the hand lever at one end and having at its opposite end a shoe between the racks and engageable with the teeth of either of them for respectively opening and closing said door thereby.

2. The combination with a car having an opening'and a. sliding door therefor, of an opening and closing mechanism for said door, consisting of upper and lower racks extending cross-wise the door and secured hereto with their teeth opposed, a 'hand lever pivoted to the car wall at one side of the door, and an endwise movable bar pivoted at oney end tosaid hand lever and havingat its opposite end a shoe between the racks, said shoe having its upper and lower ends engageable with the teeth of the respec-v tive racks with the ends of the shoe and the teeth having complementary vertical faces, facing in opposite directions so. that the shoe may be pushed against the teeth of one rack to closethe door and pulled against the teeth of the other rack to open the door. l 3. The combination with a car `wall. having an opening and a sliding door therefor,

of an opening and closing mechanism for,

said door, consisting of a pair of upper and lower racks extending'cross-wise of the door and secured thereto with their teeth opposed, a hand lever pivoted to the car wall at one side of the door, an endwise movable member pivoted at one end to said lever and having at its opposite end a vertically disposed shoe having its upper and lower ends engageable with the teeth yof the respective.

pivoted at one endto said lever and having at its opposite end a shoe enga 'eable with the teeth of either of the racks or openingand closing the door thereby, and a member opening rack when the door is closed.

lng an. opening and a sliding door therefor,

Thecombina-tion with a car wall hav-` of an opening and closing'mechanism kfor y said door, consisting of a pair of upperv and lower racks extending cross-wise of the door and secured theretofwith their' teet'h'oppose'd, a hand lever pivoted to the car walll at one pivoted at one endtosaid handv leverA and having at its opposite end a shoe between the racks and engageable with the teeth of eitherof the same for opening and closing the door therethrough, a 'locking member pivoted to the upper rack and having a right angled portion to extend over the top and outer pside,respectively, of the l,bar to hold the shoe engaged with the door opening' rack when the door is closed, said member andba'r` having' registering opening. to receive a fastening wire.`

yside. of the'door, an endwise movable "bar 6. `The combination with a vcar wall having an opening and a sliding door therefor,

for saiddoor, consisting 'of a pair of upper and lower racks secured to the door on the exterior thereof and extending cross-wise of y lthe same with their teeth opposed, a plate covering the space between the lracks and secured thereto, a hand lever pivoted to the i car wallto the rear sideof'the Said door,

and an lenvdwise movable* member pivoted to said lever and extending into the space bei` tween the racksbehind the plate and there having al shoe engageable with the teeth -of thereby. I f.

7. The combination with a car wall having anvr opening and a slidingdoor therefor, of

an opening and closing mechanism for saidy door, consisting of al pair of upperand lower racks extendingcrosswise ofthe door and carried thereby, and actuating means carried by the car wall andA engageable with the teeth of either rack forrespectively opening and closing the door thereby.

l.In testimony whereof I affix my signature thisBOth day of September, 1926.

`either rack for opening and closing the door of aI door-opening and closing mechanism 

